National Panasonic RF-B30 from 1981, the only BCL boombox? Anybody seen one of these gems? Big money, close to 60,000 yen.....
NEW HAVEN OFFICIAL SEEKS RADIO BAN Author: Paul Bass Date: Oct. 6, 1985 From: The New York Times A NEW HAVEN alderman is following the lead of Mayor Edward I. Koch of New York City in trying to take the ''boom'' out of ''boom boxes'' in city parks. ''Boom boxes'' are large portable radio-cassette players. They are often played at a high volume, which has prompted the alderman, Joseph Crisco, to propose that New Haven establish ''radio-free zones.'' Mr. Crisco said he got the idea more than a year ago when he was disturbed by youths playing the radios loudly as they walked by his home in Fair Haven. The loud radios have become a widespread nuisance throughout New Haven, he said. ''I was aggravated by it,'' the 70-year-old alderman said. ''And I got complaints about these guys carrying the boxes on their shoulders, bigger than their bodies. As a matter of fact, my grandson just got one. I'm always arguing with him.'' Mr. Crisco introduced the bill after he read about Mayor Koch's new regulation in New York City this summer, which bans the use of the radios without earphones from designated portions of beaches and parks, including Sheep Meadow in Central Park. The proposed ordinance caught other aldermen by surprise when it was introduced on Sept. 24. It has been assigned to the legislation committee, which is expected to hold a hearing on it later this month before it is voted upon. Mr. Crisco's bill goes further than the New York regulation. The alderman's proposal would ban both live and recorded music from five of the major city parks, including the downtown Green and Lighthouse Park, both of which have been sites of outdoor concerts by classical as well as rock groups. A special permit would be needed for such events in the parks. Earphones would be required with any radio brought into the parks. It would also ban music from areas within 200 feet of elderly housing and funeral homes, and from all other parks and playgrounds between 10 P.M. and 8 A.M. Word of his idea has not reached many of the New Haven youths who carry the radios, but those who were recently told about it said they opposed the bill. ''That's downright ridiculous,'' said Tony Whitfield, 21 years old. ''Everybody loves music. We're not living in Russia, right?'' ''Pretty soon they're going to tell us how to dress - shirt and ties, too,'' said his companion and fellow McDonald's employee, Robert Moore, 22, who was playing his Sanyo radio. ''Once news gets out, even I'll get up a petition to keep boxes. It doesn't bother anybody. Sometimes we'll come by and see an old person and cut a little dance step for them. They smile.'' People do not always understand the nice feeling music from a radio can add to a walk, said Kevin Terry, a 21-year-old electrician who was carrying his through Beaver Pond Park. Like Mr. Moore and Mr. Whitfield, he said he believed that the volume should be kept reasonably low but that he and others should still be allowed to walk around the parks with them without the earphones. ''A lot of things bother people,'' he said. ''They can drive cars fast with their radios blasting. Why can't we have our box?'' Police Chief William Farrell and the director of parks and recreation, Robert Sheeley, expressed some reservations about enforcing the proposed ban. ''It's annoying, but it's not our No. 1 problem,'' Chief Farrell said of loud radios. ''We have so many things we have out there to pursue. Priorities have to be priorities.'' Mr. Sheeley said he was concerned about the ability of his park employees to enforce such a code. He said maintenance workers, who would be the ones encountering offenders, were not as well equipped for potential confrontations as New York's park security officers who enforce Mayor Koch's order. Mayor Koch's regulation was started this summer as a trial program. New York City officials say that security officers have encountered resistance from some radio owners, but that in most cases a warning has convinced them to turn off the radio or use earphones. Mr. Crisco's ordinance would allow people to use earphones, too. It would not, he acknowledged, address the instances that originally prompted him to draft the bill: Youngsters would still be free to walk by his home with the music playing loudly under the proposed ordinance. ''They don't do it to spite anybody,'' he said. ''They like to hear loud music. Maybe they're hard of hearing.''
National Panasonic RX-4400 from 1975, thanks AB388! You can see my beauty on this thread https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/the-international-thread-of-field-recorders.7761/page-3 I love this style of "boombox," they were a little more higher end but not like a true field recorder.
